Blade magazine



Jan. 12', 1943., J. MUROS v BLADE MAGAZINE Filed May 25, 1940 I. INV ENTOR my ATTORNEY P Patented Jan. 12, 1943 UNITED STATES T OFFICE 2,308,383 BLADE MAGAZINE Application May 25, 1940, Serial No. 337,241

7 Claims. 01. 206-16) This invention consists in an improved mag azine for safety-razorblades or other fine-edged blades which it is desired to dispense and to keep as reserve supply in fully protected condition and to deliver one by one as required for..,5 use in a safety razor or other holder.

The general object of my invention is to improve magazines of this type in respect to security, convenience and safety. It is important that the magazine should be capable of being 1.0 filled easily by the manufacturer and that the blades therein should be maintained with their sharp edges out of contact with all parts of the magazine. If that is not done the skill and care of the manufacturer in producing exceedingly..l5 fine, keep cutting edges in the blades goes for naught. Moreover, the blades should be delivered one at a time from the magazine and inserted in the razor without being drawn over any stationary part which would turn the blade go v the magazine in longitudinal section.

edge. All of these conditions are met in the magazine of my invention.

In magazines as heretofore constructed the delivering operation has been generally accomplished by moving an operating device of some gs closure formed by-two inturned flanges H and I2 sepkind in a direction toward the delivery or exit opening of the magazine and toward thesafety razor or holder. It has frequently happened that the movement of the partly ejected blade is interruptedand under those circumstances the gers tend to slip away from the partly ejected 40 blade instead of toward it. i

As herein shown the desired results are secured by providing a flexible blade-feeder, for example a thin metal band, which may be guided about the interior of the magazine and connected with an operating device located upon the opposite side of the blade stack from thatat which the blade is being delivered, the operating device being movabl to deliver a single blade at a time from the stack in a, direction opposite to. that in which the operating device itself is moved. The specific mechanical structure for thus mounting and guiding the flexible blade-feeder is of secondary importance so long as it may be operated in a direction opposite to that of the 55-.

19' as an axis.

blade-delivering movement, or may be located in the magazine opposit from the side at which Figs. 1. and 2 are views in side and front elevation respectively of a safety razor with which the I magazinefof my invention may be used;

Fig. 3 is a view of the magazine in front elevation;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective on'a larger scale; Figs. 5 and 6 correspond to Figs. 1 and 2 but show the magazine operatively connected to the razor;

Fig. '7 is an exploded view in perspective of the inner parts of the magazine; and

Fig. 8 is a view on a still larger scale showing The magazine may be constructed of sheet material, such as sheet' metal, or it maybe moulded from a thermo-plastic compound. It

comprises an elongated rectangular casing or enlfi. The bottom of the magazine is arated by an open slot located symmetrically and longitudinally of the casing. Its upper wall is provided With a forwardly projecting lip I3 and in the end wall beneath this lip is provided a discharge opening in the shape of a transverse slot I l. The slot is formed in the end wall of the casing flush with the inner surface of the lip 53. The end wall is also provided centrally with a circular opening l5 shaped and located .to receive a forwardly projecting stud 21 in the blade clip as will presently be described. The

' rear wall of the casing is extended forwardly in the form. of a finger or arm l6 and this is provided with an elongated rib ll .which functions to guide the arm it when the latter is inserted between the blade-engaging members of the safety razor.

The two side walls of the magazine are perforated near one end to receive a transverse pin 59 by which an end cap it is secured in place to close the right-hand end of the casing, that is to say, the end of the casing opposite to that in which the discharge opening I4 is provided. A guide roll 20 is journalled to rotate freely on pin feeding band or feeder 2i passes about the circumference of the roll 2%], one end being maintained in contact with the inner face of the upper The flexible and resilient blade-' bottom wall of the casing.

- purpose in the front plate 33.

wall of the casing l and the other similarly maintained in engagement with the bottom wall formed by the flanges II and I2. The band or feeder 2| may be of ribbon steel or any other material flexible enough in ribbon form to follow a U-shaped path and yet sufliciently firm and noncompressible to provide substantially positive feeding means when properly guided in its path. These spaced flanges II and I2 constitute a guideway in which is slidably mounted an operating knob or button 22 which is connected to one end of the blade-feeding band 2|. The band extends from the button 22 toward the right and thence upwardly and forwardly about the roll 20 being provided at its free end with a transverse strip 23 which increases its effective thickness where it contacts or engages the end of the blade to be fed. A curved guide or filler 24 is provided within the right-hand end of the casing and :this extends substantially concentrically with the roll 20 so that the flexible feeder is positively guided in a circular path about the roll and prevented from buckling in case its advancing movement is retarded or obstructed in any way. The band is thus maintained at all times in a U-shaped path and is movable longitudinally therein.

A stack of blades 25 is maintained within the casing or enclosure H] in a blade clip 26 which comprises a fiat base having upstanding end walls and aleaf spring 28 secured to the base and tending at all times to lift the blades stacked in the clip and hold them yieldingly in contact with the upper side of the enclosure ID. The forward end wall of the blade clip is provided with a projecting pilot stud 27, which has been already referred to, and which is so located as to center the clip in the casing it The stud 21 co-operates with spaced ears at the other end of the clip to maintain its bottom wall suspended slightly above the Thus the flexible and between its spaced ears without excessive friction. The bottom of the clip thus provides the upper wall of a narrow guide passage in which movement of the band 2| is positively controlled and buckling prevented.

The particular magazine and clip herein illustrated are intended to contain and to handle long narrow single-edged blades but it is Within the scope of the invention to modify the magazine and the blade-feeding mechanism from that herein illustrated to handle any desired type of safety razor blade.

As one example of safety razors for which the illustrated magazine is adapted the razor illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 6 has been selected. This comprises a handle 38, a projecting back plate 3! provided with an overhanging blade-engaging flange 32. A front plate 33 is permanently secured to the back plate and provided with a forwardly projecting portion which constitutes the blade seat of the razor and with a downwardly projecting guard 34. A curved spring 35 fast to the lower part of the back plate maintains the front and back plates firmly engaged with each other when permitted to do so.

In supplying a blade to the razor just described the arm l5 of the magazine is forced into the razor head from the right-hand end, the rib I1 passing into a guide channel provided for that As the arm 16 is forced in the razor head the front plate 33 is sprung forwardly and separated from the back plate as indicated in Fig. 5 and the blade seat and guard 34 are sprung downwardly at their right end opposite to the delivery slot M of the magazine. Thus the razor is prepared to receive a blade from the magazine and if a used blade remains in the razor it is thus released preparatory to being ejected. With the magazine in the position shown in Fig. 6 the user now proceeds to move the operating button 22 toward the right. Meanwhile, of course, the spring 28 lifts the blade stack and maintains the uppermost blade 25 in contact with the top of the casing l0 and in alignment with the free upper end of the blade-feeding band 2!. Accordingly, as the operating button 22 is moved toward the right by the user the free upper end of band advances toward the left pushflngthe uppermost blade 25 ahead of it out through blade-feeding band 2| may pass beneath the clip the discharge slot l 4 and upon the blade seat of the razor beneath the flanges 32. As the new blade is advanced in this manner the used blade, if any, is ejected from the left-hand end of the razor. It will be noted that the operating button 22 moves in a path on the lower wall of the magazine so that the fingers of the user are necessarily located at all times at a point remote from the delivery slot 14 which is just under the top wall of the magazine. If the outward movement of the blade is momentarily obstructed for any reason and the user's fingers slip beyond the operating button they will still move safely out of range of the sharp edges of the blade being ejected. When the operating button 22 reaches the limit of its movement toward the right and is arrested by the cap I8 the new blade is fully seated in the razor. When the operating button 22 is returned to its initial position the other end of the band 2| is retracted to a position in line with and behind the next successive blade of the stack which has now been lifted to take the place of the one just ejected. Thereupon the magazine may be withdrawn and the arm I6 removed so that the overhanging flange of the back plate is immediately returned to blade-clamping position in cooperation with the blade seat of the front plate 33. The razor is now in readiness for the shaving operation fully equipped with a new sharp blade .45

which has not been touched by the user in its passage from the blade clip of the magazine to the razor.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described one desirable embodiment thereof for purposes of illustration but not in any limiting sense, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A blade magazine comprising an elongated enclosure with a delivery opening adjacent to one wall, a stack of blades in said enclosure, a firm flexible blade-feeding band extending along one wall of the enclosure, around one end of the blade stack, along the opposite wall of the enclosure toward the delivery opening and into contact with a single blade of said stack, means at one end of the blade stack for guiding the band longitudinally to advance one blade at a time from said stack, and an operating device for the band movable in a path on the wall of the enclosure remote from the said delivery opening.

2. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having a discharge opening at one end and a roller at the other, means for supporting a blade stack between the two, a flexible non-compressible feeder extending about the roller and into contact at its free end with a single blade of said stack, means for guiding the feeder in its said path, and means for moving the free end of the feeder toward the discharge opening to discharge one blade at a time from the stack.

3. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having a discharge opening in one end, a blade stack within the casing, an operating device mounted for movement away from the end of the casing having the discharge opening, and a firm flexible blade-feeding band connected thereto, extending in a U-shaped path within the casing leading the end of the band into contact with a single blade of said stack, curved means for guiding the band in its U-shaped path, the band being movable longitudinally to separate one blade at a time from the blade stack and eject it from said opening when the operating device is reciprocated.

4. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having an end discharge opening, means for holding a blade stack in the casing, an operating device guided for longitudinal movement outside the casing, a firm flexible feeder connected thereto, extending in a U- shaped path toward the opening and into contact at its end with a single blade of said stack and being of such length that its blade-engaging end moves always in the opposite direction from said operating device in removing one blade at a time from the blade stack, and means for guiding said feeder in its U-shaped path.

5. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having a delivery opening in one end, a curved guide at the other end of the casing, a flexible non-compressible feeder disposed in a U-shaped path determined in part by said curved guide, and a blade clip mounted in the magazine to form with the casing a narrow passage through which the feeder must move in approaching the curved guide, the end of said feeder being directed by the guide into contact with a single blade contained in said blade clip.

6. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having a delivery opening in one end, a non-compressible flexible blade-feeder disposed in a U-shaped path leading to the delivery opening and having a free blade-engaging end, means for guiding said feeder in its said U- shaped path, a blade clip held against longitudinal movement in the casing, and an operating device for the feeder confined to movement in a limited path such that the feeder is arrested with its end substantially at the delivery opening when the operating device reaches one limit of its movement and with its end behind a single blade in said clip when the operating device reaches the other limit of its movement.

7. A blade magazine including in its structure an elongated casing having a delivery slot, a blade clip supported in the casing out of contact with one wall thereof, a flexible blade-feeder disposed in a U-shaped path, means for guiding the feeder in its said U-shaped path for directing its end into contact with a single blade in said clip and movable longitudinally about the blade clip to remove one blade at a time therefrom and eject it from said slot, and an operating device for the feeder mounted for movement on the casing in a path remote from said delivery slot.

JOSEPH MUROS 

